I'll weigh in here with my $.02 worth regarding XA and
Stylus Epic. In true Zuikoholic form I have both
(actually two XA's and one Epic) and after extensive and
exhaustive reasearch have concluded they are both winners
but have a decidedly different flavor. Both are easy to
pocket and I rarely go anywhere without one or the other.
The camera you have is infinitely better than the bag of
gear you don't...etc.
XA: I give a slight nod to the XA because of the
ability to manually focus and set aperture. I find the
lens reasonably sharp and have achieved very good results
with it. It does vignette pretty badly especially at wide
apertures so I try to avoid large expanses of blue sky. I
have gotten in the habit of keeping it loaded with either
Fuji 200 print film or Ilford XP2 which I shoot at ISO
200. This speed film is a good compromise: fast enough
for hand-held shots in dim lighting but not too fast that
you bump your head on the 1/500 max shutter speed. Lately
I've trended toward slower films as I've gotten used to
the shutter release. I found it tricky at first but now
appreciate its light touch for smooth shutter release. I
can easily hand hold shoot at speeds I wouldn't consider
with the OM cameras.
Epic: The Stylus is a great little camera for what it
does. It is very light weight and is comfotable even in
the pants pocket (the XA is a bit heavier and I prefer to
carry it in a jacket pocket). The lens in this camera can
give astounding results IF the auto-focus agrees with you
as to the point of focus. That's my main gripe about this
camera. As a true grab-shot camera though it is tough to
beat. I tend to load it with ISO 400 film to force its
little brain to close the aperture when I want larger
DOF. The built-in flash is not terribly strong but for me
gives excellent results as a daytime fill-flash. I have
found the Stylus to be very rugged; I let my 6 and 10
year olds use it and it has been dropped many times
(including a 10 foot drop-kick down the sidewalk) and
refuses to stop working. I may have to buy another one of
these to hold in reserve before they quit making them.
Regards,
Charlie Geilfuss
PS. Walt I'm glad to hear you will be with us a while
longer. I'd miss your grumblings.
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